0413-23 NY Times Crossword 13 Apr 23, Thursday

Constructed by: Robin Yu
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Reveal Answer: Too Little Too Late

We have a rebus puzzle today, with a LITTLE “TOO” in several squares. Those “TOO” words appear TOO LATE, are wrongly placed at the end, in common phrases:

  • 65A Not enough, and without the urgency, to make a difference … or a literal hint to 18-, 30-, 38- and 48-Across : TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
  • 18A Dangerously near : TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
  • 30A Like a controversial political issue, maybe : TOO HOT TO HANDLE
  • 38A Trendy and overconfident, slangily : TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL
  • 48A Triple-platinum 1991 Hammer album : TOO LEGIT TO QUIT
  • 14D Film character whose lines were all bleeped out? : ARTOO DETOO
  • 43D “Yer darn ___!” : TOOTIN’
  • 53D Place for a screwdriver : TOOLBOX

Bill’s time: 9m 55s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Ending with centi- or milli- : -PEDE

Centipedes and millipedes are multi-legged arthropods. Centipedes can have varying numbers of legs, from about 30 to about 350 depending on species. Millipedes have segmented bodies with two pairs of legs in each segment. Millipedes have about 80 to 750 legs, again depending on species.

9 Eritrea’s capital : ASMARA

Asmara is the capital and largest city in Eritrea. The same city is known locally as “Asmera”.

22 Simple chord : TRIAD

A triad is a group of three and, specifically in music, a chord made up of three notes.

26 One who eschews all pop culture, say : SNOB

Back in the 1780s, a snob was a shoemaker or a shoemaker’s apprentice. By the end of the 18th century the word “snob” was being used by students at Cambridge University in England to refer to all local merchants and people of the town. The term evolved to mean one who copies those who are his or her social superior (and not in a good way). From there it wasn’t a big leap for “snob” to include anyone who emphasized their superior social standing and not just those who aspired to rank. Nowadays a snob is anyone who looks down on those considered to be of inferior standing.

28 Word after big or go : … APE

The slang “go ape” is actually a cleaner version of a similar expression, and is American slang that only dates back to about 1955.

44 Necklace made from natural materials : LEI

The plumeria genus of plants has the common name “frangipani”. The genus is named after French botanist Charles Plumier. The common name comes from an Italian noble family with roots in ancient Rome. Various species of plumeria are commonly used for making leis in several Pacific islands.

45 They check out people who check in, in brief : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.

46 Self-referential : META

In recent decades the prefix “meta-” has been used as a standalone adjective. In this sense “meta” means “self-referential”, describing something that refers to itself. For example, “This sentence starts with the word ‘this’ and ends with the word ‘this’” might be called a meta sentence. A movie that is about the making of the very same movie could also be described as meta.

48 Triple-platinum 1991 Hammer album : TOO LEGIT TO QUIT

Rapper MC Hammer (aka Hammer and Hammertime) was born Stanley Kirk Burrell, and was very popular in the 80s and 90s. Being around that early, MC Hammer is considered to be one of the forefathers of rap. Nowadays, MC Hammer is a preacher, and uses the initials MC to stand for “Man of Christ”. If you are so inclined, you can learn a little about Hammer and his family life by watching past episodes of the reality TV show “Hammertime”, which aired in 2009.

57 ___ flour (macaron ingredient) : ALMOND

A macaron is a meringue-based cookie associated with French cuisine, although the original confection hailed from Italy. Macarons are often confused with macaroons, small cookies made from ground almonds, and often coconut.

59 Animal that might make a waterslide to play on : OTTER

Male and female otters are known as dogs and bitches, with the offspring called pups. Males and females are sometimes referred to as boars and sows. A collection of otters is a bevy, family, lodge or perhaps a romp. When in water, a collection of otters can be called a raft.

70 Water gate : SLUICE

A sluice is a water channel with a gate at its head that is used to control the amount of water flowing.

71 Some compound gases : MONOXIDES

Oxides are usually named for the number of oxygen atoms in each molecule of the oxide. Oxides with one oxygen atom are called monoxides (as in carbon monoxide: CO). Oxides with two oxygen atoms are dioxides (as in carbon dioxide: CO2). Oxides with three oxygen atoms are trioxides (as in sulfur trioxide: SO3). Oxides with four oxygen atoms are tetroxides (as in dinitrogen tetroxide: N2O4).

Down

1 ___-Man : PAC

The Pac-Man arcade game was released first in Japan in 1980, and is as popular today as it ever was. The game features characters that are maneuvered around the screen to eat up dots and earn points, while being pursued by ghosts named Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. The name of the game comes from the Japanese folk hero “Paku”, who is known for his voracious appetite. The spin-off game called Ms. Pac-Man was released in 1981.

2 Hartsfield-Jackson airport code : ATL

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is the world’s busiest airport, as measured by passenger traffic. Atlanta has had that distinction since 1998, and was the world’s busiest in terms of take-offs and landings from 2005 until 2013. Over 50% of Atlanta’s traffic comes from Delta Air Lines.

3 Onetime auto replaced by the Chevrolet Aveo : GEO METRO

Geos were small vehicles manufactured by General Motors, mainly in the nineties. They were designed to compete head-to-head with the small imports that were gaining market share at the time in the US. Some Geo models that you might remember are the Metro, the Prizm and the Storm. The cars were actually built as joint-ventures with Japanese manufacturers. The Prizm was a GM/Toyota project, the Metro was GM/Suzuki, and the Storm was GM/Isuzu.

The Chevrolet Aveo is a subcompact automobile that has been around since 2002. The Aveo is manufactured by GM Daewoo, the GM subsidiary in South Korea. Although the Aveo name is still used in some markets, here in North America the Aveo has been sold as the Chevrolet Sonic since 2012. By the way, GM Daewoo is the third largest manufacturer of automobiles in South Korea, after Hyundai and Kia.

5 Adobe file suffix : PDF

Adobe Systems is a San Jose-based enterprise that is best known for developing Photoshop image editing software and the Portable Document Format (PDF). The company was founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke, in Warnock’s garage. The Adobe Creek ran behind that garage, and the founders borrowed the name of the waterway for the company’s moniker.

6 God of fertility : EROS

The name of Eros, the Greek god of love, gives rise to our word “erotic” meaning “arousing sexual desire”. Eros was referred to in Latin as both “Amor” (meaning “love”) and “Cupid” (meaning “desire”).

7 Sci-fi cult classic of 1974 : DARK STAR

“Dark Star” is a sci-fi comedy released in 1974. Director John Carpenter described the movie as “‘Waiting for Godot’ in space”. That means I won’t be watching “Dark Star” …

8 Los Angeles neighborhood whose name means “oak” in Spanish : ENCINO

Encino is a district in the City of Los Angeles on the north slope of the Santa Monica Mountains. The area takes its name from a historic parcel of land called Rancho Los Encinos (Ranch of the Oak Trees).

14 Film character whose lines were all bleeped out? : ARTOO DETOO

Artoo’s proper name is R2-D2 (also “Artoo-Detoo”). R2-D2 is the smaller of the two famous droids from the “Star Wars” movies. British actor Kenny Baker, who stood just 3 feet 8 inches tall, was the man inside the R2-D2 droid for the first six of the “Star Wars” movies.

16 ___ Cherry, singer with the 1988 hit “Buffalo Stance” : NENEH

Neneh Cherry is a rap singer from Stockholm, Sweden. Cherry was born Neneh Karlsson, but she took the name of her stepfather, American jazz trumpeter Don Cherry.

19 “And yet …” in a text : OTOH …

On the other hand (OTOH)

23 Iron Range haul : ORE

The Iron Range is a collection of iron-ore mining districts surrounding Lake Superior. The “range” isn’t a mountain range, despite the name. Instead, the range comprises outcrops of sedimentary rock that are rich in iron. The iron ore has been exploited for centuries in underground mines and open pit mines. My wife’s great grandfather immigrated from Finland to work underground in a mine in the Mesabi Range in Minnesota.

24 Deal breaker? : NARC

“Narc” and “narco” are slang terms describing a law enforcement officer who tracks down criminals associated with illegal drugs. Both words are short for “narcotics officer”. Narcs might work for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

25 Candied fruits or nuts : COMFITS

A comfit is a candy consisting of perhaps a piece of fruit, a nut or a seed, coated with sugar. “Comfit” comes from the Old French “confit” meaning “preserved fruit”.

39 Frequent word before “x = …” : LET

Algebra (alg.) is a branch of mathematics in which arithmetical operations are performed on variables rather than specific numbers (x,y etc). The term “algebra” comes from the Arabic “al jebr” meaning “reunion of broken parts”.

40 Common caviar source : STURGEON

Sturgeons are sometimes classed a primitive fish, meaning that their characteristic features are relatively unchanged when compared to the earliest fossil records. Several species of sturgeon are farmed for their roe, which is made into caviar.

41 Long-running forensics drama : CSI

I quite enjoy the “CSI” franchise of television shows, all except “CSI: Miami”. I find the character played by David Caruso to be extremely annoying. “CSI: Miami” was canceled in 2012. No loss …

42 Stereotypical product for a kid’s first entrepreneurial endeavor : LEMONADE

An entrepreneur is someone who takes on most aspects of a business venture, from the original idea to the execution. The term is imported from French, with “entreprendre” meaning “to undertake”. The original usage in English dates back to the early 1800s, when it applied to a manager and promoter of a theatrical production.

48 Noted ancient philosopher : LAO TSE

Lao Tse (also “Lao-Tzu”, “Laozi”) was a central figure in the development of the religion/philosophy of Taoism. Tradition holds that Lao-Tzu wrote the “Tao Te Ching”, a classical Chinese text that is fundamental to the philosophy of Taoism.

51 Dutch astronomer with an eponymous “cloud” : OORT

The Oort Cloud is a hypothetical spherical cloud of comets that lies about a light-year from the sun. It is postulated that periodic comets that enter our solar systems (like Halley’s Comet) originate in this cloud.

58 Singer Zayn : MALIK

Zayn Malik is a singer from Yorkshire in northern England who found fame with the boy band One Direction. Malik quit the band in 2015 to launch a solo career. A year later, Malik became the first male artist to hit the number-one spot in both the UK and US charts with both a debut single (“Pillowtalk”) and a debut album (“Mind of Mine”).

60 Novelist Wiesel with a Nobel Peace Prize : ELIE

Elie Wiesel was a holocaust survivor who is best known for his book “Night” that tells of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was also the first recipient of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Award, which was later renamed the Elie Wiesel Award in his honor.

63 Sicilian skiing spot : ETNA

Mount Etna on the island of Sicily is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy, and indeed the largest of all active volcanoes in Europe. Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-gauge railway, and two ski resorts. It is sometimes referred to as “Mongibello” in Italian, and as “Mungibeddu” (sometimes “Muncibeddu”) in Sicilian. The English name “Etna” comes from the Greek “aitho” meaning “I eat”.

66 Pro ___ : TEM

“Pro tempore” can be abbreviated to “pro tem” or “p.t.” “Pro tempore” is a Latin phrase that best translates as “for the time being”. It is used to describe a person who is acting for another, usually a superior. The President pro tempore of the US Senate is the person who presides over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President of the US. It has been tradition since 1890 that the president pro tem is the most senior senator in the majority party. The president pro tem ranks highly in the line of succession to the presidency, falling third in line after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.

67 Alley ___ : OOP

“Alley Oop” is a comic strip that ran for four decades starting in 1932. “Alley Oop” was drawn by V. T. Hamlin. The title character lived in the prehistoric kingdom of Moo, although for much of the strip’s life, Alley Oop had access to a time machine. Alley Oop also had a girlfriend called Ooola. I had assumed that Ooola’s name was a play on “hula hoop”, but that little toy wasn’t invented until the 1950s (a kind blog reader informs me) …

68 Bit of merch : TEE

Merchandise (merch)

69 In particular: Abbr. : ESP

Especially (esp.)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 One side of a sheet : PAGE
5 Ending with centi- or milli- : -PEDE
9 Eritrea’s capital : ASMARA
15 Made a fast break after breakfast, say : ATE AND RAN
17 Mob member : RIOTER
18 Dangerously near : TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
20 Some people : MEN
21 Playlet : SKIT
22 Simple chord : TRIAD
23 “Gimme a moment” : ONE SEC
26 One who eschews all pop culture, say : SNOB
28 Word after big or go : … APE
29 No-goodnik : RAT
30 Like a controversial political issue, maybe : TOO HOT TO HANDLE
34 Needs to be corrected : ERRS
36 Goat’s cry : MAA!
37 Board hiree, in brief : CEO
38 Trendy and overconfident, slangily : TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL
44 Necklace made from natural materials : LEI
45 They check out people who check in, in brief : TSA
46 Self-referential : META
48 Triple-platinum 1991 Hammer album : TOO LEGIT TO QUIT
54 Central : MID
55 Big feller? : AXE
56 Mouth-puckering : SOUR
57 ___ flour (macaron ingredient) : ALMOND
59 Animal that might make a waterslide to play on : OTTER
62 Fad : RAGE
64 Prohibition : BAN
65 Not enough, and without the urgency, to make a difference … or a literal hint to 18-, 30-, 38- and 48-Across : TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
70 Water gate : SLUICE
71 Some compound gases : MONOXIDES
72 Great respect : ESTEEM
73 Just like *that*! : SNAP!
74 Fortified tower : KEEP

Down

1 ___-Man : PAC
2 Hartsfield-Jackson airport code : ATL
3 Onetime auto replaced by the Chevrolet Aveo : GEO METRO
4 Moderates : EASES
5 Adobe file suffix : PDF
6 God of fertility : EROS
7 Sci-fi cult classic of 1974 : DARK STAR
8 Los Angeles neighborhood whose name means “oak” in Spanish : ENCINO
9 Branch : ARM
10 Sort (through) : SIFT
11 Secure, in a way : MOOR
12 The “A” of A-fib : ATRIAL
13 Take over? : RETAPE
14 Film character whose lines were all bleeped out? : ARTOO DETOO
16 ___ Cherry, singer with the 1988 hit “Buffalo Stance” : NENEH
19 “And yet …” in a text : OTOH …
23 Iron Range haul : ORE
24 Deal breaker? : NARC
25 Candied fruits or nuts : COMFITS
27 Romantic music genre originating in the Dominican Republic : BACHATA
31 “The way,” per 48-Down : TAO
32 Prefix with classical : NEO-
33 Send to a terrible fate : DOOM
35 Jus ___ (birthright citizenship) : SOLI
39 Frequent word before “x = …” : LET
40 Common caviar source : STURGEON
41 Long-running forensics drama : CSI
42 Stereotypical product for a kid’s first entrepreneurial endeavor : LEMONADE
43 “Yer darn ___!” : TOOTIN’
47 Do some basic arithmetic : ADD
48 Noted ancient philosopher : LAO TSE
49 Praises : EXTOLS
50 “Scram!” : GET OUT!
51 Dutch astronomer with an eponymous “cloud” : OORT
52 Reservations : QUALMS
53 Place for a screwdriver : TOOLBOX
58 Singer Zayn : MALIK
60 Novelist Wiesel with a Nobel Peace Prize : ELIE
61 Food often served in bed? : RICE
63 Sicilian skiing spot : ETNA
66 Pro ___ : TEM
67 Alley ___ : OOP
68 Bit of merch : TEE
69 In particular: Abbr. : ESP